Colgate Directory

Carolyn Hsu

My current research examines the rise of NGOs in the People's Republic of China. NGOs are a new phenomenon in China -- they barely existed at all 20 years ago, but now there are millions. You can read a little bit about this research in an article I wrote for the Colgate Scene, autumn 2008, titled Serving the People. It describes new trends in charitable giving and volunteerism in China.

I also conducted the 2003 and 2009 Colgate Campus Climate Surveys. Working with my co-author, Dr. Landon Reid, we surveyed the entire student body to examine how students' experiences of campus life differentiated by race, gender, socioeconomic class, and other factors.

Teaching Experience

Associate Professor: Colgate University
Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Introduction to Sociology

Classical Social Theory

Globalization, Culture and Everyday Life

Nations and Nationalism

Senior Seminar in Sociology

High Honors Thesis Workshop

CORE Communities and Identity: China

Personal

I am married to Christopher Henke, who is also a sociology professor here at Colgate. We have one daughter, Lin, born in 2001.

In the winter of the 2011-12 academic year, I traveled to India with 26 other Colgate faculty members. Our mission was to confront questions of identity, culture, and knowledge across intellectual boundaries in order to support our instruction within Colgate's Core program. Read more about our experiences at our blog Reflections from India.